Videogaming: Introductory Experiences

I didn't have much of an opportunity for playing videogames as a kid; my parents were decidedly more literarily inclined, and believed in encouraging reading and intelligent discussion rather than games, fearing the (theoretical) detachment and lack of social skills playing videogames would bring to my psyche.

Whatever my parents may have thought, I will of course always be grateful to them for encouraging my voracious appetite for books, and my subsequent study of old literature and history. However, it left me less than confident about my ability to play anything remotely resembling a full-blown videogame. My experience is limited to handheld consoles of the nintendo variety (Over the last 14 years I've played six different versions of Pokemon) and the occasional game of Bomberman 64 with my friend Katie back in fifth grade when her older sister used to babysit me.

Over the years I still had little experience; my crappy old mac computer had ancient games like Lode Runner on it, but other than that and flash games, I wasn't exactly an afficionado. Don't get me wrong, I was still a total geek - though more regarding movies and books than anything else.

As I spent more time on the internet - and started dating - I discovered new games like World of Warcraft. Which I never played... and never will, because nothing stings more than being a Warcraft Widow.

And that's what put me off videogames for a while; boys being more interested in videogames than me. Yeah, I was a bitter chick, and I know it.

So high school came and went, and then I moved on to the big world of college. Which is when I discovered Dungeons and Dragons, a game that has not only changed my social life, but opened me up to a new subculture. Over the last two and a half years I've learned two different versions of D&D and learned how to play Magic: The Gathering (I favor Blue/Black decks, in case you were wondering).

So I spent more time with gamer guys, dated around a bit, and the main thing I discovered about all of them was their love of videogames. And each definitely tried to encourage me to join in on their videogaming antics, both on computer and on console.

But I had an issue: I was a total wuss. One of the things that I hate the most is looking like a total fool (years of being picked on in school will do that to an insecure teenager I guess). So I didn't want to game in groups for fear of sucking horribly and being mocked.

After several failed attempts on the parts of ex-boyfriends to get me to play games (don't worry, it wasn't a melodramatic experience at all), I maintained my personal anxieties and continued with playing tabletop.

Then I started dating John; he's a big gamer, we even met through D&D. One of John's favorite games of all time is Diablo II, and it's an old game at that. I watched him play that, and numerous other games, for the year and a half we've been dating. A lot of the time I found myself experiencing classic symptoms of 'lonely nerd girlfriend' syndrome, staring moodily at my boyfriend while he ignored me as he played his videogames. It's not a fun experience.

A couple months ago, with the release of Pokemon Platinum, I found myself wandering through Wal-Mart with the purpose of wanting to buy myself a shiny new Nintendo DS. After two straight weeks of playing I had kicked the ass of all the gym leaders, caught as many pokemon as I could find, and beat the elite four.
And John, frequently peering over my shoulder, commented on the fact that I really did seem to know what I was doing.

A few months ago attempts were made to install Diablo II on my computer. After several failed attempts due to "compatability issues". Then last week, John had a revelation.

"Did I ever get you to install the patch?"

Ten minutes later, John and I had hooked out comptuers up (wireless at home ftw) and were playing a Barbarian and a Necromancer. The next day I started playing a solo game. I haven't had this much fun in forever.

So now, whenever John and Chris sit down to play Age of Wonders, I can curl up with a bottle of coke and some cookies and go back to ganking the hell out of Demons.

And after work today we're meeting up to LAN, and then I'm going to try my hand at taking down Andariel solo.

Well... not solo. Five skeletal minions, a golem and a merc doesn't really count as solo :3